Rating agency Fitch Ratings has said mobile number portability (MNP) is unlikely to hit operators, considering the dominant pre-paid nature of the market and high churn rate, and opined that India will not behave too differently from rest of Asia on this matter.

"MNP is unlikely to have any significant negative impact on operators, considering the dominant pre-paid nature of the market and high churn rate," Fitch said here today.

However, it said, MNP, which allows a subscriber to change his/her operator but retain the number, is likely to intensify competition on the postpaid front, but this segment represents only 5 per cent of the 600-million subscribers.

Postpaid subscribers will display a certain level of brand loyalty, and hence they are unlikely to switch due to minor pricing reasons, considering that the differential in calling expenses will be negligible, the rating agency stated.

But it said price pressure, which has so far been more on the prepaid segment, will spread to the postpaid category with MNP, though to a lesser extent. Fitch also expects only limited impact of higher subscriber acquisition and retention costs on overall operating margins.

After much dilly-dallying, the Telecom Ministry rolled out MNP in Haryana on November 25. Originally the scheme was scheduled for 2009. Yet, the rest of the country will not have this facility before January 20.